In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
November 13, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Rigel
Date: November 13, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 6:24 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- This is a patch I haven’t used before. I added a number of effects to make it sound mysterious, including a toned-down ring modulator.
- I used minor rhythm changes in A minor (Am7, FM7, Bm7b5, E7), which lends to open consonances and tense dissonances.
- The deeps anchor the piece nicely, without being too loud or overbearing.
What I Don’t Like About It
- The pace of the piece seems to move too fast.
- Sometimes, tonal shifts took us in unexpected directions.
- We could have lingered a little less long on the final cadence.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
November 10, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Quetta
Date: November 10, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:30 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- This is a patch I haven’t used before. I like the swirly phaser. This is a pretty sound.
- The harmony is in D major with descending chords (DM7, C#m7b5, Bm7, A7), which has lots of soaring consonance and tense, clustered dissonance in my tight 16-note grid.
- The note diversity is decent with some floating highs and heavy-duty lows.
What I Don’t Like About It
- Some of the dissonant clusters resolve unexpectedly or fail to resolve at all and simply “move on”.
- In a couple of spots, a few notes shift at once and leave a pedal tone hanging in the air, seemingly disembodied.
- I feel like this might be a little too phaser-heavy and I could have toned it down a little bit.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
October 22, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Pliancy
Date: October 22, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 6:30 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- This is an instrument I haven’t used before. It’s different.
- The harmony (Em7, DM7, Cm7b5, B7) is simple, but effective.
What I Don’t Like About It
- There is a whole bunch of phase distortion that is quite evident when the volume is up.
- There are long sections without any lows at all. This makes the piece feel untethered during those sections.
- Some chord changes are abrupt and unexpected and other chords are held too long.
- I should have spent more time in the mix down and adding an effects processor or two. I think Microphaser and a touch of Chorus would have been effective here.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
October 15, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Owyhee
Date: October 15, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:06 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony is minor Rhythm Changes in Bb minor. It’s consonant enough to leave big open chords, but dissonance enough to give us some delicious tension.
- The lows are vast and give a beautiful depth to the piece.
- The mix is very clean and very high resolution (I asked for 160 kbps VBR and ended up with 225 kbps.
- This instrument is mellow and with the touch of added microphaser is very interesting.
What I Don’t Like About It
- All the notes are bunched too close together just below middle C. While there are awe-inspiring depths, nothing soars into treble territory.
- Multi-note clusters much below the top of the bass clef clash and sound badly mixed.
- The ending is unexpectedly abrupt.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
October 8, 2008 with 1 comment
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Title: Apollo Lee – Nunavut
Date: October 08, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:30 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony is diatonic to some degree, consisting of descending seventh chords in F minor (Fm7, Eb7, DbM7, C7). The combinations of the sixteen tones used is enough to have sections of open harmony, suspended chords, and very tense dissonances.
- The instrument patch I’m using is very unusual with a strange bell-like aftertouch that invokes a feeling of coldness and sparseness.
- The piece flows well from one chord to the next.
- The mix sounds clean, without distortion. Part of that is due to the high quality rip (211 kbps).
What I Don’t Like About It
- The icy ringing aftertouch gets old fast and it’s everywhere on every note.
- The note diversity could have been wider.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
September 29, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Monona
Date: September 29, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:54 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony is interesting, but easy to play around with. It’s descending minor seventh chords starting on A minor (Am7, Gm7, Fm7, Em7). Lots of interesting tonal possibilities here.
- The instrument patch I’m using is unusually and has interesting nuances.
- The individual notes take some time before the fundamental tone is reached.
- It doesn’t feel naked when there are only one or two notes in the chord.
- The mix down sounds good.
What I Don’t Like About It
- The first tone, the ringing bell/organ, is a part of this patch I’m still not totally sure if I love. Especially since it occurs on every attack.
- I didn’t use those lows effectively enough.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
September 24, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Luminesque
Date: September 24, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:36 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony is quite different, chords built on D, F, G, and A in D Melodic Minor (Dm/M7, F+7, Gm7, A7). It feels really open due to the large number of shared notes between chords.
- The lows are really deep and the highs are ethereal and floating.
- The overtone/aftertouch that occurs on max velocity on a note works well in this piece.
- The mix down sounds really clean.
What I Don’t Like About It
- Some of the high notes are too loud.
- I should have used more color tones in the harmonic structure.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
September 18, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Kestrel
Date: September 18, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony is really strange — a foundation of a c°7 (C diminished 7) chord, with major seventh chords on each. Thus: CM7, EbM7, GbM7, AM7 (BbbM7, technically). This lends itself to some haunting dissonances and open consonances.
- Bouncing this track to MP3 at 192 kbps VBR (high quality) seems to eliminate a few issues with phase distortion and other artifacts of low resolution MP3 compression.
- There’s a good diversity between highs and lows, which gives the piece depth.
- I managed to equalize out most of the buzz and add a touch of reverb and flange.
What I Don’t Like About It
- I’ve probably used this patch too much.
- In a few places, the highs are just a notch too piercing.
- We’re still using one instrument and no form.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
August 13, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Jasper
Date: August 13, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 9:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The instrument takes some acclimatization, but I like it after a few listens.
- Transitions are, for the most part, smooth and not distracting.
- The harmony (Am7, Gm7, Fm7, Em7) is strange, but leads to some good dissonances and spaced out consonances.
- The mix down sounds pretty good, with no glaring distortion or buzz .
What I Don’t Like About It
- While there are some bottomless bass notes in the sixteen selected notes, I didn’t use them as much as I could have.
- Some of the chords are a little thick and some of the transitions feel muddy.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
July 29, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Ionosphere
Date: July 29, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony (Em7, Dm7, Cm7, Bm7) is unusual and lends to some interesting note combinations and dissonances.
- The instrument has a pad and an organ in it with interesting harmonics that make it sound otherworldly.
What I Don’t Like About It
- The mix is really loud.
- The note diversity is fairly low. I seem to always have almost all of my notes in the bass clef.
- There’s still a little phase distortion that slipped through the mix.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.